[ P ] summertime sadness

Badari Tiamat

As she stood in the square everything seemed to go by in slow motion. The bustling streets around her were pack with wolves that were just going about their day to day lives. They all looked normal but she had to wonder if behind their eyes lie a different story. A story like hers. Did they lie awake at night and think about the darkness closing in? Did they have trouble leaving the city, so much so that it sends them into a panic attack? Did they...

Questions bounced off her skull as she turned, round and round, gazing at the wolves passing by. The world spun around her and it just kept going.

It was all too much, she felt like the walls of the square were closing in and her breaths came a little quicker, a little more shallow. No... not here... she thought bitterly as she battled with herself to regain control. She stopped turning and stood still, swaying in place as she closed her amber eyes and focused on her breathing. "In... out... in... out..." she whispered lowly to herself. There was no need to panic. She was in Rionna, in public. She was safe. Right? She had been on the battlefield at Melrose too and she'd been taken, unnoticed by anyone at all. Had her family looked for her at all or had they counted her as one of the dead. Tears pricked at her eyes and she thought about how she had looked for her sister until her paws bled. She had given up after years of searching but at least she'd tried.

But... had anyone done that for her?

She knew Obsidian and Sylvain had but had that just been dumb luck or had they been actively looking? She had never gotten up the gall to ask, nor did she want to truly know the answer. She sighed, letting out another heavy breath before sitting down and lowering her head.

"Get it together," she murmured to herself. She was slowly coming around and nobody seemed the wiser to her near outburst. Just like that, she'd gone... unnoticed.

"Badari Tiamat speaking."

code & art by claerie

S

ince the parade, there had been a weird lull in the air. As if there was some sort of catastrophic event just waiting to unfold. Maybe it was just Obsidian waiting for it to happen. He wasn't sure. He had decided to take some time from training, make his rounds through the city to make sure nobody was causing any harm to the citizens. Just because there was not a war, did not mean there were those who wanted to see the crown's citizens hurt. Odysseus may have been pardoned, but that did not stop Obsidian from wanting revenge. Which also made him think of the one who murdered Leoric. He would get his revenge on them as well. He just needed to find out who had done it. That would take some time and some good detective work, something Obsidian was not afraid of doing. The nightmares had started to fade, and he was just living his day to day, trying to force those horrid thoughts from his mine. At least that one bastard was dead before he could do anymore terrible things to his best friend.

During his walk, his bi-colored eyes caught the sight of that very friend he had been thinking about. It had been a minute since they had some time to actually talk. He had helped her to work a couple of times, trained with her, but getting down and actually talking about things - he was avoiding for the most part. He didn't want to hurt her even more and bring up those horrid things that happened to her. Obsidian walked slowly towards her, approaching from behind. Since he was paying all of his attention on her, he could hear her softly muttering to herself. He looked to her with a softness in his eyes, something that was not usual for the male. She held a special place in his heart. His ears laid against his skull and his paws brought him to her side. He did not want to scare her or startle her. "Badari.." he said softly. "Is everything alright?"

@Badari

code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

Badari Tiamat

Despite his voice being soft, Badari still startled at the sound of her name. She turned to see Obsidian beside her and immediately felt both relieved and embarrassed. She didn't want him to see her like this but there was no hiding it now. "Yeah... I'm fine, more or less. I just get panic attacks from time to time thanks to... what happened," she admitted. She hoped it didn't make her look pathetic, but she felt that way already so what was the point in hiding it.

She turned her body slightly to face him and then shook her head. "Don't worry about me, I think I'm getting over it. I think I'm fine now..." she said, her voice breathy as she spoke. She sounded like she'd been running but she'd been standing here the whole time. Her body shivered slightly but not from the cold. She had to remember she was safe here, and that Drystan was dead and gone. There was nothing he could do to hurt her anymore.

"Badari Tiamat speaking."

code & art by claerie